Friday, January 7, 2011

Artistically Fashionable

While in London, my Mum and I attended the Aware: Art Fashion Identity exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts. It was a wonderful show that explored how fashion designers and artists use clothing as a tool to communicate components of our personal identities. The exhibit made you ponder- is it fashion, art or both? Here are some pictures that I took of the show when hidden from the eagle eye of the guard!

This was one of my favourite pieces of the exhibit. Created by Hussein Chalayan it depicts Japanese puppeteers (Bunraku) manipulating the clothing of the model. It begs the question- who pulls the strings in the fashion industry? How many people have manipulated the image that you see strutting down the catwalk? The model's eyes blinked in response to the strobe lights providing an eerie composition of shadows and shapes.

This theatrical outfit was created by the one and only Alexander McQueen for his 1998 Autumn/Winter Collection. It is entitled "Joan" after the brave fashionista Joan of Arc.

This is a special commissioned piece created by Yinka Shonabare called "Little Rich Girls." The artist incorporates the cultural traditions of African style clothing with the Victorian style of dress. The social commentary explores the influential European legacy on various cultures.

These dresses are fiber form uniforms made by Andrea Zittel. She uses the labour intensive process of hand felting wool into different garments. Each uniform is made from a single piece of felt with no seams, resulting in a clean line and flawless appearance.

This dress is made from a material that disintegrates over time when exposed to water. It raises the question- is clothing timeless or simply disposable?

These funny looking headpieces are created from African wigs in architectural forms. The piece is called "Perruques Architecture" and is designed by Parisian artist Meschac Gaba. The forms represent famous monuments in Paris.

The Royal College of Arts

Speaking of art I happen to be an artist's daughter and these are two of my favourite pieces that my Mum painted (and the two that she refuses to sell!) I am begging my Mum to re-create the quilt painting for me as I think it would look divine in my living room- don't you agree?

Oh wow, that would be an interesting exhibit to go to... you must have gotten tons of inspiration for your wardrobe :)

Your mom is super talented! Hopefully she paints for you. I did a painting once that my mom begged me to recreate... it was hard to do it though... it's like once you create something it's hard to reproduce it because it's already out... I don't know. I'm weird tho :P In the end, I did it but the original was way better.